How far was Britain a democracy by 1918

How far was Britain a democracy by 1918
In 1850 Britain was extremely far from being known as a democracy. This was due to the fact that the great reform act only extended the power of the vote from wealthy landowning men in 1832 to the wealthy middle class men. This meant that the majority of the population still were unable to vote. For a country to be democratic it entails to have certain circumstances which would include the majority of the population, every adult, having the right to vote for their country. There should also be an equal amount of seats distributed. All elections that take place should be run fairly and be restricted from intimidation and influence. Every adult should also only be entitled to one vote whereas at this time some individuals who went to university could vote in their university constituency as well as when they owned a property. It should be allowed that a person from any background is able to become an MP. By 1918 many of these circumstances had been met although not all. Although improvements had been met in Britain some aspects that would make the country fully become a democracy where not in place, therefore it can be argued that Britain was not fully a democracy by 1918.

When the 1867 reform act was passed it gave the vote to every male householder living in a borough constituency, the working class men in the towns. Even though is increased the amount of individuals able to vote in Britain it was still very restricted as it was explained that the vote was only passed to men that owned a property over the value of £10 a year. This did double the amount of men able to vote although women still had no right to vote for their country. The 1884 reform act extended the vote to the working class people in the countryside; this managed to increase the electorate by 50%. However the undemocratic feature of this which still remained was that men who owned a property in a different constituency although they could also vote in their university constituency therefore plural voting was still in place and this wasn’t abolished until 1948 so therefore this was also a feature that kept Britain from being a democracy. Historian TC Smout mentioned “unfortunately, due to the continued existence of groups who were not enfranchised… the act left some 40% of the adult males in the UK sill enfranchised in 1911, clearly concentrated in the poor and younger working class. The representation of the people act did not occur until 1918, this gave the vote to all men over the age of 21 and also introduced to giving the vote to women over the age of 30. Although 22 per cent of women of 30 years were still unable to vote due to the fact they were not property owners and it wasn’t until 1928 that all adults over 21 including women got the vote. Therefore it can be argued that by 1918 had become a lot more democratic than previously due to the fact women were now able to vote although it can also be brought forward that they were still somewhat not democratic due to the fact the for women was not equal to men as it did not manage to supply them all with the right.

Having an equal distribution of seats is another important part to democracy. In the 1867 reform act the redistribution of seats was made fairer due to the fact boroughs which had become depopulated in time lost their right to send MP’s to parliament, while growing towns were able to gain the right to send more MPs. Even though in 1832 rotten boroughs were removed this made it fairer. However it was still not totally reasonable due to the circumstance that landowning interests in the south of England were still over-represented in parliament and the growing towns were somewhat under-represented. The aim of the law that was passed in 1885 was to try to reflect more accurately on the changing population of Britain. This law made changes such as 79 towns whose population had fallen lost their right to elect an MP. Another 36 towns also with falling populations had the number of MPs representing them reduced to one. Whereas at the same time, growing towns were given the right to elect two MPs and also larger towns were divided into several different constituencies where each separate one where given an MP. This helped on making Britain a democracy as it made the situation fairer. In 1918 this area improved as it was recognised so that each MP represented 70,000 people. This marked the end of the old country borough distinction. Even though this was progress towards Britain becoming a democracy it was still not fully democratic.

For a country to be considered as a democracy there should be a fair voting system in place that every person to be authorized to. Corruption was a serious problem even after the 1867 reform act was passed in British politics. Despite increasing the electorate from eight per cent of adults to twenty eight per cent, the newly enfranchised men found their independence limited by the system of open voting and by the excessive spending activities of well-off candidates at the election. Changes were made when the secret ballot act was passed in 1872. These changes included allowing voters to vote in secret in the polling booths which certainly helped remove the evident examples of bribery and influence that occurred towards the voters. This helped towards the growth of democracy as it allowed people to have their own personal opinion and vote without intimidation from others.

In 1883 more changes were brought forward to tackling corruption and intimidation. The corrupt and illegal practices act was passed. This brought changes involving limiting how much candidates could spend during election time. It also banned activities such as the buying food and drink for votes to persuade them to vote for what they believe. This would have helped the growth of democracy as it meant the voters had their own say and couldn’t be bribed to vote for a certain candidate. It also made the voting system fairer as it gave each applicant the same amount of time during the election.

In democracy it should be acceptable for any person to become an MP regardless of their personal background. For most of the nineteenth century MPs where unpaid and had to own land to be able to get a place as one. Minus the fact property qualification’s to become an MP ended in the 1850s, the working class men who had to work all day for their living for very low wages could not afford to give up it up to become an MP. For Britain to become a democracy, the chance to become an MP would have to be opened to everyone and not just the wealthy. In 1911 MPs began to be paid. This allowed ordinary people who didn’t make or own a property over a certain amount to participate more in the political process.

The parliament act of 1911 was also a large contribution to the road towards democracy. It reduced the power of the House of Lords so that they had no say over the budgets and could no longer veto bill passed by the House of Commons. The only say they had was that they were able to delay them for up to two years, and later by 1949 it was reduced to one year. This made Britain more democratic due to the fact it meant things were fairer.

I conclusion by 1918 some progress was made towards Britain becoming a democratic country. Although there were still many factors that had to be considered before it could be fully known as a democracy. This included areas widely involving fair votes for women which weren’t completed until 1928. Therefore at this time the country was somewhat becoming a democracy although many steps still had to be accomplished before it was considered in this way.